Weaves
by Carachnor
Summary: Shane Merrol is just another star captain until he gets caught in a beginning war.
1. Chapter 1

_Mankind has colonized the stars. The early explorers launched themselves and their followers into the void with little or no idea of what the future would hold. Many were never heard from again, until a genius named Omata Kane came to the fore. Kane designed and orchestrated the design of the Hypergate system. The Hypergates were a means of linking systems light-years apart with wormhole technology. A great boom of colonization began, and the dark reaches of space were suddenly not so dark, nor so distant. The ruling body of humanity, the Colonial Council, grew rich form the colonies; the life's blood of the council was the Hypergate system._

_But the Colonial Council grew corrupt and the sickness of the corruption spread through every layer of society. Pirate attacks became more prevalent, criminals flourished and politicians became military governors. The emasculated council could do nothing. Terrorists destroyed the Sol Hypergate and crippled the system. Overnight, entire systems were cut off from civilization and society was thrown into a state of anarchy. Few could have foreseen the events that followed. Warlords arose, empires sprung up and collapsed just as quickly, and all the while the people of the galaxy suffered in a new dark age. Planets sank into feudal states, and much technology was lost, seemingly forever._

_Yet from this chaos rose order. A newly reformed Council advanced faster-than-light technology and slowly, regained contact with the lost worlds of humanity. Over time the core systems of human space formed a new ruling body: The Federation. Life is now a cheap commodity in a dangerous universe. To the south lies the Auroran Empire, a savage race. The mysterious Polaris hold the east. The North and the West remain unexplored . . . _

An alpha-class shuttle exited hyperspace, slowing to sub-light speed in the Kane system. The ship only needed one man to pilot it and that was all that there was. The pilots name was Shane Merrol. He was a young man, barely out of his teens. He was six foot even with a slender build, strong arms, and an expression that suggested a shrewd and cunning mind. Having worked hard to get where he now was, cruising towards a major spaceport for the first time in his life, he had nothing more than himself, his ship, a small blaster, and 25,000 credits with which to travel the galaxy with all of its diverse beauty and terrors. Merrol skillfully piloted his new shuttle towards Port Kane, one of the most famous spaceports in Federation Space.

Port Kane was a station on the edge eastern edge of Federation space, only several systems away from the Polaris and Auroran borders that had been set centuries before.

After paying a nominal landing fee, Merrol landed successfully. He took his time completing his postflight check before walking through his hatch into the hangar.

As Merrol wandered around a spaceport for the first time in his life as a fully fleged ship's captain, a weather-beaten man, in his early fifties by the look of him, strolled up to him.

"You look a little lost m'boy," he drawled in a gravelly voice. "You look like I did when I had just taken my first flight as a ship captain. Mind you, that was nearly thirty years ago, but I never forgot that day. 'Tis a grand feeling being a captain of a starship, and that first landfall is something you'll never forget."

"This is indeed my first voyage," Merrol admitted, smiling. The man slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a wide grin.

"Congratulations, son," he said, shaking Merrol's hand with genuine regard. The man stepped back, looking at Merrol with an almost calculating look of his face. "When I first made landfall, I remember running into a guy by the name of Gary, and he was just looking to settle down after plying the spaceways for a few decades. In exchange for passage he showed me the ropes, and how to get started in this crazy universe of ours." He stopped for a moment, giving Merrol another calculating look.

"Well, I guess what comes around goes around," he smiled, nodding at the silent captain. "So I guess I'll make the same offer to you. What do you say?"

Merrol, who for the most part had taken all this in quietly, thought for a moment before replying to the man's offer.

"I don't think so. I have a lot to do and need to find a real job," said Merrol.

"Well, I guess that some things are better learned first hand." He grinned once more before reaching out and shaking Merrol's hand again. "Well, regardless m'boy, I wish you the best in your travels. Somehow I get the feeling that you will do something that will shake the universe." With a wink, the man headed off to find another ship and never crossed paths with Shane Merrol again.


	2. Chapter 2

Shane Merrol had decided before his encounter with the strange man that he would head to the bar on that level of the station in search of work. He continued on his course until he came across it.

The bar was dimly lit with holo-ads covering the walls. The room was mostly empty save two tables with several patrons. One table seemed to be having a drinking contest much to the please of the barman who was gladly running up their tab while bringing more for them to drink. As Merrol watched one of the men threw up on his neighbor in a cascade of watery leftovers. Merrol took a seat on the far side of the room, well away from the drunks. He ordered a simple water and pulled up the local job listings on his handheld. Having sat there for a while, a woman in a blue-black uniform approached him.

"You are Shane Merrol, Captain of the Quasar?" she asked quietly. Merrol nodded, curious. The woman continued. "I am Samantha Virana and I'm a representative for the courier company United Shipping. We specialize in moving small valuable cargoes like jewelry, business papers and contracts, etc. We have recently been on the lookout for new pilots who would be willing to work for us. Are you interested?"

"Perhaps. I have only two questions. How do I get in and how much does the job pay?"

"Ten thousand. The first job is your in. Finish it before the deadline and you can continue to work with us for as long and as often as you like."

"I'll take it."

"Excellent!" she exclaims, smiling widely. "Well as it happens we need someone to head over to GLi-Tech-nia in the Rimshot system to pick up some personal effects for a client on Georgia in the Nerse Primus system. This particular mission has no deadline, which is slightly unusual, as most of our clients want their merchandise delivered by a set time."

"Anyway," Samantha grins happily, "another United Shipping representative will meet you at the other end and will brief you further on what to do next. I'm sure I'll see you around in the future, Shane Merrol."

With that she got up, shook Merrol's hand and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Merrol sat there for a while thinking about what had just happened. The unfortunate problem that came to his mind was that he had never heard of those systems. Up to a few days previously, he had never left his homeworld, Altia, and therefore had a severely limited knowledge of space. He went over to the bar to speak with the barman. The barman was short and had a small scruffy beard that was streaked with grey. The barman spoke without looking up from the cup he was cleaning.

"Do ye got my money for yer drink?"

Merrol tossed a few credits on the counter in response.

"Much obliged good sir. Is there anythin' else I can do for ye while yer here?"

"Actually, there is," Merrol began. "Have you ever heard of the Rimshot or Nerse Primus systems? I need to get there for a job but have no idea where either one is."

"Yeh've never heard of either of them systems? Where've yeh been yer whole life laddie? In a hole somewheres?" When Merrol just stared he continued speaking. "Rimshot is home to GLi-Tech-nia. Don't tell me yeh've never heard of GLi-Tech."

"The weapons company? The ones that make the majority of Federation weapons?"

"So yeh haven't been livin' in a hole yer entire life," the barman said, turning. "That's the one. As fer Primus, its only one system away from Sol. One o' the first worlds people colonized. Didn't yeh pay no attention in school laddie?"

"That's not the sort of thing they teach in schools nowadays."

"Well that's a real shame. Yeh ought to read up on the galaxy a bit more it would do yeh a lot o' good. Anyhow, if yeh want to know where they systems are yeh might as well jest go an' buy a map from the outfitter. It's on the same level as the main hangar in this station. It's a fair bit costly, but worth it all the same."

"Thanks," said Merrol a bit of a chill in his voice. He stood up and walked out of the bar into the grey hall beyond. He began walking down the hall towards a lift. He thought about his conversation with the barman. Perhaps he ought not to have been so cold with the man. Looking back, Merrol thought more about the words the man had spoken. Merrol noticed that despite his uneducated way of speaking the man had a shrewd intelligence of his own. The lift beeped and the doors opened. Several people got out of the lift and Merrol stepped in. Merrol cursed himself as he stepped past a balding man in a maintenance jumpsuit. Being a captain was already going to his head. He should know better. He'd grown up right next to the underworld of Jarsin, Altia's main port. Just before the doors opened on his stop, Merrol made a mental note to show some humility and to pay more attention when people spoke regardless of how useless their words seemed.


End file.
